Dateline:

Public Company Information:

NYSE:

AGO

"Unfortunately, the Revised Fiscal Plans repeat and exacerbate flaws in the original plans"

HAMILTON, Bermuda--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)(together with its subsidiaries, Assured
Guaranty) released the following comments regarding the revised fiscal
plans (Revised Fiscal Plans) submitted by the government of Puerto Rico,
PREPA and PRASA for certification by the Financial Oversight and
Management Board for Puerto Rico (Oversight Board):

Meeting PROMESA’s dual stated purpose of fiscal responsibility and
restoration of the Commonwealth’s access to the capital markets has
become even more critical in the aftermath of the hurricane damage in
Puerto Rico. After Hurricane Maria, Assured Guaranty voluntarily
withdrew its litigation challenging the legality of the original
Commonwealth Fiscal Plan, in order to remove a possible distraction from
the recovery effort, and because the plan would now be subject to
revision. The withdrawal of this and other parties’ litigation following
the hurricane created an opportunity for the Oversight Board and Puerto
Rico government to reassess and chart a new course of action. This
should have facilitated new engagement between the Oversight Board, the
Puerto Rico government, its creditors and its residents to work toward a
comprehensive, consensual plan that would prevent years of costly
litigation the Puerto Rican people can ill afford.

Sadly, Puerto Rico’s authorities have squandered a critical opportunity.
We appreciate the significant time and effort that goes into the
development of these plans, and welcome the scrutiny of operational and
organization structures that have been put forth. However, when the
Oversight Board asked for revised plans in light of the hurricane
damage, the government and Oversight Board should have taken the
opportunity to reset the relationship with all stakeholders and produce
plans that focus on recovery efforts and comply with the mandatory
requirements of PROMESA, the Commonwealth Constitution, and the United
States Constitution.

“Unfortunately, the Revised Fiscal Plans repeat and exacerbate flaws in
the original plans,” said Dominic Frederico, President and CEO of
Assured Guaranty. “Certifying such plans now would be a disservice to
the American citizens of Puerto Rico, as the plans fail to focus on
growing the economy and restructuring the government and its cost basis
to improve efficiency and transparency. The Revised Fiscal Plans also
fail to identify essential versus nonessential spending and ignore both
creditors’ constitutional rights and contractual liens and covenants.

“The Oversight Board should prioritize using government resources to
implement redevelopment measures focused on the immediate needs of the
Puerto Rican people, many of whom remain without electric power more
than four months after the hurricane, as well as following the
requirements of PROMESA and abiding by the rule of law. The Revised
Fiscal Plans as presented once again erode Puerto Rico’s credibility and
undermine confidence in the Puerto Rico government to honor its
obligations.

“If the Oversight Board certifies, and Puerto Rico implements, the
Revised Fiscal Plans as proposed, it would ensure that Puerto Rico will
be distracted by years of costly litigation and will eliminate access to
the traditional capital markets for the foreseeable future,” continued
Mr. Frederico. “But the consequences extend far beyond Puerto Rico to
the entire U.S. public finance system. This disregard for creditors’
rights would shake, on a nationwide basis, investors’ confidence in the
enforceability of their contracts, the rule of law and public officials’
willingness to abide by the commitments they have made. In doing so,
they will make it more expensive for municipalities throughout the
United States to fund essential services and infrastructure for their
taxpayers.”

Collaboration on developing a fiscally sound strategy that involves all
stakeholders, especially those with constitutional rights and
contractual liens, and that prioritizes a detailed and substantiated
reconstruction plan, would be a far better solution than certifying a
non-collaborative five-year plan in which no one can have confidence
because its assumptions and development are secretive. This is a
government that has been unable to produce audited financial reports for
fiscal years 2015, 2016 and 2017 and continues to evade current
financial transparency. Nevertheless, they ask investors to accept a
complete rejection of their legal rights based on unsubstantiated
long-term assessments of the economic impact of the hurricane, and
draconian guesses on out-migration.

The Revised Fiscal Plans are fiscally irresponsible, and ensure a
continued lack of access to the traditional capital markets. Rather than
force Puerto Rico to spend hundreds of millions more in litigation,
advisory and Oversight Board costs for years to come, we once again urge
the Commonwealth Government and Oversight Board to meaningfully engage
with creditors for the benefit of Puerto Rico.

Any forward-looking statements made in this press release reflect
Assured Guaranty’s current views with respect to future events and are
made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements involve risks and
uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from
those set forth in these statements. These risks and uncertainties
include, but are not limited to, those resulting from implementation or
non-implementation of any Commonwealth fiscal plan; failure to reach a
consensual settlement among creditors, the Commonwealth, the Oversight
Board and other stakeholders; future litigation, and other risks and
uncertainties that have not been identified at this time, management's
response to these factors, and other risk factors identified in Assured
Guaranty’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers
are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements, which are made as of January 25, 2018. Assured Guaranty
undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise, except as required by law.